This invention relates to clamp assemblies, and more particularly, to an assembly for use in a medical environment to support various medical appliances.
In medical environments, such as hospitals and clinics, IV (intravenous) poles and masts are used to support various types of medical appliances, dialyzers, reservoirs, bottles, etc., which are used in the treatment of patients.
In kidney dialysis, a dialyzer may be supported from an IV pole, and it is desirable to selectively position the dialyzer at various heights and attitudes in both the horizontal and vertical planes.
There is presently available a dialyzer clamp assembly which has a pair of rotatable jaws for receiving a dialyzer. The jaws will only accept dialyzers within a small range of sizes and the jaws are rotatable to specific detented positions. The jaw and detent mechanisms are complex, and include many parts and are difficult to assemble, clean or service. Furthermore, the clamp assembly is mounted to the IV pole in an off-center position which causes the clamp to be particularly susceptible to inadvertent rotation about the pole. This clamp is also provided with an auxiliary mounting system for positioning bubble trap, and the like, above the clamp assembly itself. It has been determined, however, that it is desirable to position the mid-height of the bubble trap at about the same level as the mid-height of the dialyzer.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a simple and economically constructed clamp assembly having jaws which can accept a wide range of dialyzer sizes, which can be mounted to an IV pole so as to avoid inadvertent rotation, and which includes an auxiliary mounting system for aligning the bubble trap or other auxiliary appliances with the mid-height of the dialyzer.
It has also been determined that hospitals, clinics, etc. normally stock many different types of clamp assemblies in order to be able to support the various types of appliances used in a hospital.
It is also desirable to provide a clamp assembly which is suitable for use with dialyzers and other medical appliances of differing sizes and shapes so as to minimize the number of clamps which must be stocked and/or purchased by the hospital or clinic.
There are also other bracket-like assemblies known for use with IV poles. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,318,457 and 3,797,792. An adjustable bracket for grasping a drainage bottle and positioning it beneath the bed is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,464,672. None of these devices are deemed to be desirable for use in dialysis apparatus and include the disadvantages discussed above.
These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following description and appended claims.